Candidate Details.

CANDIDATE NAME:

Charmaine Tsitsi Musonza

CANDIDATE NUMBER:

5083

CENTRE NAME:

Wilmington Grammar School For Girls

CENTRE NUMBER:

61119

Final products.

Eval. question 7: Music magazine

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what have you learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 

When i first began this AS Media coursework, i had never used any of the programmes before. Our first task was to create a front cover and contents page for a school magazine. The preliminary task was really when i explored the softwares, slowly becoming more confident in using them. My front cover for my school magazine does not seem to have the same quality as my music magazine, which i did more research for. It follows a very basic structure, mostly sticking to the rule of thirds. It is clear to see that i didn't experiment much with my school magazine front cover as the colour, and size of the font is mostly the same throughout the entire page. I didn't edit the image much at all, only brightening it a little. The only thing that i experimented with a lot on my first task was the font for the school magazine title, "The Taversham Titbit". I used a drop shadow, and tampered with different colours and effects until i was pleased with the end result. The logo has been edited using the "Clipping Tool", but as i was not used to the programme, i was not aware that the tolerance of this tool could be tampered with, so that the little white edges remaining would disappear. Due to my lack of understanding where Photoshop and InDesign were concerned, i could not do much to my photographs as i did not fully understand the software, and so i was not confident with using it. When looking at my music magazine front cover in comparison to my school magazine front cover, it is clear that i was a lot more confident using the software, and not afraid to experiment more with different tools and features that i had not used before, like the paintbrush and the ink dropper tools, which i used to edit the edge of the ukelele, which was lost because of the lighting. I used more colours and different font sizes, adding more features to my magazine, like the barcode and price. I also feel as though the photograph, although not great, has increased in quality in comparison. My music magazine also seems to follow my research a considerable amount more than my school magazine does.

The contents page of my preliminary task is of a better quality than my school front cover, in my opinion, as i used more colour, pulling it from the image. The structure of the overall page is a lot more obvious than my front cover, and it looks more professional in comparison. I feel that the coloured lines add a needed break from the text, and that the use of different font sizes and colours for the titles and subheadings is a good feature. The photograph that i have used does not show a great difference in terms of quality, to my front cover image. In contrast, the contents page for my music magazine differs from my school one considerably. When taking my photographs for my music magazine, i had access to lighting equipment, and so i could control the lighting more than i could for my school photographs, which were taken outside. The structure of both contents pages are roughly the same, but because of the different tasks, each layout has many major differences. The music magazine allowed me to experiment more with colour and different fonts, which i couldn't do with my school magazine. By the time i was making my music magazine contents page, i was able to crop images in different shapes, rotate images and text, and change the display performance of my photographs. I also knew how to use tools like, "Clipping Path", "Dodge Tool" and "Magic Wand", which helped to increase the quality of my work considerably. I was able to make my magazine for my target audience with more ease because of this. I did not do nearly as much research for my school magazine as i did for my music magazine, which helped me to refine my magazine so that it would appeal to my target audience more. Furthermore, i do not think that i was as focused for my school magazine like i was for my music magazine, which can be seen in the difference in quality of both.

Overall, looking back at my preliminary task in comparison to my music magazine, i can say that i feel i have progressed in not only my organisational skills, which have been improved by the use of this blog, but that i have gained many skills, such as the ability to use software such as Photoshop and InDesign. I understand much more about technology, and different items that can help me improve my research and final products, such as microphones, and Windows Movie Maker. I have realised what is needed to make a good quality magazine that will be successful with sales, and how to target it at a certain social group to ensure that they will like the content. When i started my preliminary task, i was not aware of all the different parts that were needed to make a successful magazine, or how to use that information. Furthermore, when i first began the course i was not as experimentive as i am now, and that can be seen in my initial products, as it was very much trial and error due to my lack of knowledge on the software i was using.

Eval. question 6: Music magazine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANnUxCIvcWM

I have created a powerpoint in a video to show my evaluation question. The URL has also been provided to prevent any viewing problems.

Eval. question 5: Music magazine

5. How did it attract/address your audience?

As my music magazine was aimed towards mainly girls, as well as boys, i tried to keep the balance between the features, in an attempt to ensure it was not predominantly focused towards girls. Additionally, as my magazine was aimed towards those that enjoy different types of indie music, i had to offer enough of that to make sure that it was popular with that social group, as well as including a few other things that could help to appeal to those that only enjoy that particular music slightly, finding more interest in a few mainstream bands, which is why i included a few of those.

Front Cover

Contents Page  

Double Page Spread

Eval. question 4: Music magazine

Here is a video i created to show my evaluation question 4. The link has also been provided to prevent any viewing problems. Once the video has started, click it so it can take you to the Youtube website, and put it on full screen to make reading my research easier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTx8RUNNC2Y

Eval. question 3: Music magazine

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

When thinking of magazines similar to my own that i have previously researched, i looked at who published Company magazine, and found that it was a company called Nat Mags (short for National Magazine Company), who were also associated with Seventeen magazine. As Company follows a fairly similar theme to my own, using many of the same features, i thought that this would be a good choice for a magazine that would be suitable to distribute my own music magazine. After i researched into the company further, i noticed that many of the other magazines that it published were aimed towards a much older target audience, such as Cosmopolitan and Reveal. Although this is a popular and wealthy company, their experience may be mainly with magazines aimed towards the older generation, and so they are not the best company for me, as they may not have the experience with magazines aimed towards the younger generation.

After realising that this would not be the best organisation for me to use, i continued my research, looking into who distributed Sugar magazine. I found that it was distributed by a fairly well known company called, Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd, which is one of the many parts of the largest magazine publisher in the world, Hachette Filipacchi Médias. The UK part of this company is not that well known, but seems to be experienced in magazines for a younger target audience, and as the entire organisation itself is incredibly wealthy, they could provide my magazine with money to fund it, as well as help because of the experience it has gained from Sugar. This is why i believe Hachette Filipacchi (UK) to be the best choice for a media institution that could distribute my media product.

Eval. question 2: Music magazine

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine is supposed to be aimed towards mainly girls, but boys as well, that enjoy different types of indie music, such as indie-rock, alternative-rock, and indie-pop, among other things. I added features, such as festivals like Reading and Leeds, which cater to this type of music more than any other, as well as advertising artists and bands that produce this genre of music. I looked at Independent music as a whole, and then researched into the different types, mostly indie-rock and pop.

In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels, and a Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing. Independent labels have a long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records, King Records, Stax. In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established. Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked, but the majority failed as commercial ventures, or were swallowed up by the majors. During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew. The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onwards. Indie rock is a sub-genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. The meaning of the term "indie rock" is contested today by many musicians, fans and commentators. Most use the term "indie" to describe any rock music produced by artists working within the network of independent record labels and underground music venues that emerged in the United States and elsewhere in 1980s and 1990s. Others see indie rock as a distinct genre of rock music with a specific artistic aesthetic, and care less about the context in which it is made. Many embrace both meanings of the word, believing that the aesthetics of the genre and its means of production are deeply intertwined. Popular indie-rock bands that have prospered from being signed to major labels would be, LCD Soundsystem, who i mentioned on my front cover, Vampire Weekend, The Black Keys, Interpol, The Wombats, and The National. Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid eighties, The Smiths. Unlike Indie rock, Indie pop is more melodic, less noisy, and relatively angst-free. Some examples of popular indie-pop artists that my target audience would recognise are:

• Kate Nash
• Black Kids
• Two Door Cinema Club
• Death Cab for Cutie
• Ellie Goulding
• Florence and the Machine
• We Are Scientists

After i researched independent music in depth, i decided on what my artist would have to look like if she were to represent that particular genre. I looked at the usual clothing that would be associated with that label, and researched into what particular favourites there were.

When looking at Ellie Goulding, who is a very popular singer currently dominating the charts, i realised that bright, occasionally eye-catching clothing was customary, but not in an overbearing style. Stars and objects associated with nature were common on clothing, like floral prints, or space-related things, like stars or planets. This gave me the idea to dress my model in something similar, and so i asked her to wear her star print dress, which is featured on my music magazine front cover.

Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine's dress is a good example as well. Here she is wearing a dress printed with the faces of band members, which is common clothing for those that produce this genre of music, or those that follow the same style as they identify with it. Festival, gig, or artist shirts are very common, which is why asked my model to wear her Reading Festival shirt in my contents and double page spread images. Images of older bands from the 70's and 80's are usually seen, as those that enjoy indie music often enjoy music from older generations as well.

 
I also noticed that those that dressed in this particular way frequently adopted certain items of clothing from other genres, such as punk-pop, and punk-rock, choosing to wear things like Doc Martens and darker makeup, and mixing it with what they considered indie clothing, such as items from charity stores that followed the usual style, such as floral print, patterned tights, and items with lace attached, preferring to add a more feminine touch to their clothing. My model wore her classic black Doc Martens, with a girly pale blue denim skirt, paired with dark purple tights, and a festival shirt, merging all of these personal style choices that are associated with this particular genre together. I feel as though my model manages to successfully portray this social group in my target audience, as she is only 17, and so only a year older than the oldest age in my target audience. As she does not look particularly old, i believe that her age makes little difference to the overall effect. I believe that as my model is a similar age to my target audience, and dresses in a fairly similar way, that this would appeal to my target audience because they would be able to relate to her. The attitude that accompanies this social group is quite light-hearted and fun personality, as they are often quite carefree, and i feel that this has been shown clearly in my photographs.

Eval. question 1: Music magazine

Here is a video that i created on Windows Live Movie Maker, which i uploaded to Youtube. The link has also been provided to prevent any viewing problems. If you wish to see the text more clearly, please start the video, click it, which will take you to the actual Youtube site. Please then change it to full screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gpgUNDrIY4

Music magazine: Completed double page spread.

This is my completed double page spread. Overall i am very pleased with it, as i managed to incorporate all of the features that i intended to, without making it too heavy with text, or too full with far too many images. I feel as though it really resembles a double page spread in similar magazines, but with a slight difference as i have also added many of my own ideas. I like that the quotes and title is in the same colour as the red from the top, as it links the model to the text. Additionally, the purple from the quotation marks also creates a link to her hair colour, and tights. I believe that this would appeal to my target audience as it follows a similar theme to other popular magazines that they buy. It is a big improvement from my draft versions, as i have modified it so the reader would not be overwhelmed by the amount of text on the page, and the photographs have more space, making everything clear and easy to read. The colours used throughout the two pages all link to the model in some way, but the majority has remained black to ensure that it can be easily read.

I will now compare various parts of my double page spread with the features i originally analysed in my double page spread research.

After looking at other double page spreads in similar magazines, i realised that they often had two big images at opposite ends of the page, usually of the model standing up. When taking my own photographs i remembered this, so i had my model do a few different poses, mimicking a few images occasionally. As i had a prop, which most of the images didn't have, i had to also keep in mind that the instrument had to be seen, but not in a way that either took too much attention away from the model, or covered her in a way that meant she was not recognisable. 

Many pages had the magazines name, as well as a short description of what the main article was about, in one of the top corners, which is something i replicated when creating my own. Like the example on the left, i placed my magazine title in the right hand corner, and give a brief summary of what my double page spread was about. 

A long, memorable quote was often used as the title, and so i added this to my own double page spread. The font colour was generally the same colour as a prominent piece of clothing the person was wearing, and frequently had a black or white background behind it to make that colour stand out more. When creating my own, i made my own title the same colour as the red on my models festival top. 

Whenever i looked at examples of popular magazines double page spreads, i noticed that many of them used the same idea of having a certain quote, sometimes surrounded by a shape, written in a simple font, with big, colourful quotation marks added around it. As some of them are surrounded by colour, i decided to just colour all of my quotes the same as my title, so they would all have a connection.

There were smaller images placed in either a corner, or around the middle of the page as well, and so i decided to use this image of Josie, and placed the text around her. I then overlapped the advertisement over the bottom of her, which is a feature that i often saw before. These images usually feature a fairly plain expression, in an attempt to keep most of the attention on the main images and text.

The text on my double page spread was originally a lot heavier, but after looking at research of similar magazines, i edited out unnecessary text. When evaluating other pages, i noticed that the text was often in small columns, and was highlighted to distinguish between the interviewer, and those being interviewed. I used purple when using this technique on Josie's name, as it created a link to her hair colour and tights, as well as the purple on the front cover, and the contents page. The pale blue was used for the interviewer, as it was a similar colour to Josie's skirt.

Overall, i am very pleased with my double page spread. I used my research in a way that allowed to use my own ideas and those of similar magazines, to create an effective page that i think would appeal to my target audience.

Music magazine: Double page spread drafts.

Below i have placed all of my double page spread drafts, as i changed many things when trying to complete it. I will comment on why i changed certain things, as well as why i kept certain things the same.

This was the first draft of my double page spread. I made this before doing most of my research, and so i ended up creating too much text, which would not be a common feature of other similar magazines. I decided to keep most of the layout of the same, with the advertisement at the bottom of the right-hand side, with the title in a irregular shape, the main quotes on the left-hand side, and the small introduction. I felt that this layout didn't suit an interview with an upcoming music star, as there wasn't much room for the image to be placed, which would mean that the model would not be seen too clearly.

As you can see, after removing some text, and rearranging it, i felt that the main images would look better if placed on opposite sides, with a smaller image in the middle of the right page. I then realised that i had blank white space above some of the text on the right-hand side of the double page spread, and i felt that i shouldn't add another image because the page would look too crowded if there were four all over the pages. I added the magazines title and a small summary of what the article included in the top right corner, instead of having it on the left side.

Following the previous draft, i changed the page number, removing the word "page" as it was not commonly seen on other examples. I changed the colour of the advertisement at the bottom of the right page, as i felt that the blue and purple from before wasn't working. I altered it so that the pale green created a link with the words, as it is advertising Josie Stuart's new single, "Faraway Fields". I rearranged the text again so that the columns on the right page were shorted, allowing room for the image at the bottom, instead of in the middle of the page, moving the smaller quote to underneath the magazine title. Even after all of these changes, i felt that something wasn't quite working, and decided that i needed to change the small image at the bottom of the right page, replacing it with another which can be seen on my completed double page spread.

Music magazine: Double page spread plan.

I was originally going to structure my double page spread like this, following the same theme as similar magazines. My double page spread was going to follow the same layout as Sugar as they are the magazine that is most like my own, but after making my draft, i realised that i had to modify it to suit my music magazine.

This is the new plan that i will follow when making my double page spread. I feel that it will work better for my music magazine, than the previous plan, as the photographs that i have taken and chosen to go on my double page spread will have more room, and less text, as previously, there was too much space for text, which is unusual in the magazines that i have previously researched. Below i have included the quotes, subheadings, and quotes that i will include on my double page spread.

“Even from when I was young, I’ve always loved performing.” – Title

For Josie Stuart, it seems that her musical career is taking off, and it has no intention of coming back down. Despite her unconventional choice of instrument, people can’t stop loving her… - Sub Heading 1

“Nothing short of a miracle.” – Sub Heading 2

“My family are all born performers; it just depends on what you consider entertainment…” – Quote

“I just love to see people smile, and if I’m the cause of it, then I feel I’ve accomplished something” – Small quote

“Download Josie’s latest single “Faraway Fields” for free on her official website” - Advertisement

Music magazine: Double page spread text.

For my double page spread, i have decided to structure it as an interview.  Originally, the amount of text i had was too much for my double page spread, and so i reduced the amount. I have added my final interview text below this to show what it will say.

For Josie Stuart, it seems that her musical career is taking off and has no intention of coming back down. Despite her unconventional choice of instrument, people just can’t stop loving her…

We sit with our tea in the small room we’ve booked for Josie Stuart’s interview, and eagerly await her arrival. As the clock ticks on, we all chat and gossip about this new celebrity, born and bread in our very own London streets. Just as soon as we start, the door swings open, and in walks Josie, wearing bright purple tights and Doc Martens. It’s hard not to notice just how often this girl smiles. It’s a much appreciated and refreshing sight. Her welcoming face and bold clothing put smiles on our faces that don’t disappear until well after she leaves.

Interviewer: Hey, Josie. It’s great to finally meet you.

Josie: Thanks! It’s really lovely to be here.

Interviewer: So, instead of beating around the bush, how about we jump right in and talk about what you’re wearing today. What inspired your look?

Josie: Erm, in all honesty? I just opened my wardrobe and grabbed what I saw first. Except for the tights,

I chose those deliberately.

Interviewer: Purple seems to be a prominent colour in your life. Is there any reason for that?

Josie: When I was younger my mum gave me my first musical instrument. It was a small purple flute.

Obviously, it was a toy one, meant to, I don’t know, encourage children to have more fun with music, which is definitely something I promote. Anyway, as soon as she gave it to me, I never seemed to put it down. It drove everyone, and I mean everyone crazy. Even from when I was young, I’ve always loved performing.

Interviewer: You have many fond memories of home, then. What would you say is your favourite one?

Josie: Hmm… There’s so many, you know? I think it would have to be when my aunt, uncle and cousins came round for Christmas two years ago. My mum was in panic overload, rushing to get this, that and the other. In the end, she fell asleep on the sofa, forgot about the meat in the oven, and, well... The next thing we know, the turkey is burnt so much, we don’t even think it’s a turkey anymore, so we all ate pizza

for dinner instead. My family are all born performers; it just depends on what you consider entertainment…

Interviewer: Ahh, would you say your family is just as fun and spontaneous as you are, then? As we heard about your impromptu gig at the shopping centre...

Josie: Yes, definitely. They allowed me to grow as a person, and I thank them a lot for that. Without them, I don’t think I’d be as crazy as I am now! The gig was for the upcoming Red Nose Day, so I called a local

shopping centre, and I asked them if I could perform there, charging a small fee to raise money for charity. For laughs I turned up in a Dalmatian babygrow, I wanted to keep everything fun and light-hearted, you know? What I didn’t expect was for hundreds to turn up! I think some people were a little surprised to see me playing the guitar as well as my ukulele. People forget that although I do use my ukulele, I mostly play the guitar. I like to change it up a bit. Keep you on your toes.

Interviewer: One of our reporters went to your gig and said they loved every minute. You’re one of those rare celebrities that treat their fans like actual people, and kids look up to you.

Josie: I wouldn’t be anywhere without my fans. They’re very special to me. I mean, I get to play the ukulele for a living! Who can say they do that? It’s nothing short of a miracle. I’m just…I’m loving every single minute of my life right now, and I want to do everything I can to give back to the world. I just love to see people smile, and if I’m the cause of it, then I feel I’ve accomplished something.

Music magazine: Completed contents page.

I made my contents page using the same theme as the magazine Sugar, as i felt that as our magazines are mostly aimed towards the same target audience, the same layout would suit my magazine too. I changed a few features to suit my own magazine, and so that it would not resemble Sugar magazines contents page completely. Below i have included an image of my final, completed contents page, as well as one with notes on, which i compared to the contents page within Sugar.

Here are the notes and annotations that i added to my final contents page, comparing it to Sugar's.

Music magazine: Contents page draft.

This is my music magazines contents page so far. I have typed in text what will go in the blank spaces, which could change when i continue to make it. So far i am quite pleased with how it is looking, but i may fiddle with a few things. I like the slanted title, as i feel it works well with the title, as my magazine is called TIP! I will continue to construct my contents page following the same theme as Sugar, while ensuring i incorporate the features that i liked when doing my research.

Music magazine: Contents page plan.

This is the plan that i will follow for my music magazine contents page. It follows the same theme as the magazine Sugar, which is one of my many inspirations for my own magazine, as many of its features are like my own. I feel as though this layout allows all information to be seen clearly, as images and text have a lot of their own space, but nothing is overlapping to the point where it cannot be seen easily, or is covered so much that it cannot be seen at all. I will soon upload the draft of my contents page, as well as my final contents to show any changes that have occurred, and my general progress.

Music magazine: Second set of photographs.

Here is a gif to show most of my second set of photographs for my music magazine. The pictures displayed below this are those that i did not include in the gif, as they are the images that i will use for my contents page, and double page spread. When i first started to take the pictures, i realised i had the same problem that i had when i took my first set of photographs. The light was reflecting off of the ukelele, and often, there was too much light reflected onto my models face, and so to eliminate the problem i turned one of the lights i was using off, and moved the other away slightly, which solved the problem. I took a range of photographs to ensure that i had many to use if my ideas for my final pages changed, and i needed images that were still usable. When taking these images, i thought about my target audience more, thinking about what a 13-16 year old girl, or boy might wear, and so i dressed my model in a Reading Festival tshirt, and a ripped, bleach denim skirt, as well as her various bands for festivals she had attended.

This is the image that i have chosen to use on my contents page. When looking at my contents page research, it is clear to see that images on the contents page are often of only 3/4 of the models body, ending at around their waist, and this was something i took into consideration when i took my photographs. I think that this image is suitable for my contents page as it follows the same guidelines as other images that i have evaluated. It is a simple image, and the model has a small smile on her face, which is very similar to an image i have seen before.

The image on the top was the photograph that i originally planned to have on my double page spread, but after editing it, i decided that the image on the right would work much better. Both use the instrument in a fairly creative way, while the model has a fairly black expression on her face, with her shirt in plain view. After evaluating other magazines, i realised that they usually have an image of their model from their waist up, which they place around the middle of the page.

I like this image as it is quite playful compared to the others. On most magazines double spread pages, there is a full length image of the model, which is usually quirky in one way or another. This image shows her entire outfit, which i think my target audience would identify with, as much of it would be typical clothing for themselves. Despite the photograph seeming a little posed, it still seems relaxed, which is something i wanted to show through my photographs, as it reflects my artists personality.

This is one of my favourite photographs, as i feel it really shows what i was aiming for when i first started thinking about my photographs. I wanted a cheeky image of someone having fun, with an expression that you might not normally see with most artists in a magazine, as often they are reserved. I think that this image would appeal to my target audience as it shows someone with a bubbly personality who is not much older than themselves, and so they could relate to them as well.

Music magazine: Double page spread research.

This gif shows many of the double page spreads that i looked at to find out what was the norm in terms of layout, fonts, colours, photographs, and everything else. They are all magazines that are for the most part, geared towards the same target audience as my own. I will evaluate certain parts of each of these magazines in an attempt to see what i can include on my own, and what would work best.

On each magazines double page spread, the model featured within the article always has at least two photographs that are a fair amount larger than the others used. Their expressions vary, but their poses are usually the same, as they are quite relaxed or slightly posed, depending on the models personality and overall look. The images are frequently placed on the far left or right of the page, which is something i will try to include on my own double page, as i feel that it is quite effective to have only one or two fairly large photographs of the model, who is the major focus of the main article, as it does not take too much attention away from the actual article itself.

Additionally, each main article has the magazines name featured on it, with some text to identify what the article is on, or simply just the name that is commonly associated with the main articles within that certain magazine. The actual magazine name is usually slightly bigger than the brief summary below it. It is also the same colour as the actual title, with the summary in black or white to reduce attention leaving the main article. I feel that this feature is quite effective as it reminds the reader of what the magazine is called, which could in turn result in that person buying that magazine more often.

On each main article, if it is an interview, then the main title is usually a memorable quote from the interview itself, placed in a big font at the top of the left page, in a colour that is incorporated into the page elsewhere, with either a black or white background behind it. Here they have placed bright pink on top of a black background to make the words stand out more, which draws your attention to what that particular person has been saying. It allows the reader to have some insight into what the interview may focus on the most.

A big quote with quotation marks in a bright font is often used on the double page spread, and it is usually a memorable quote that reflects that particular persons personality. The quotation marks themselves are a fair bit larger than the text itself, and are usually in a colour that has been used somewhere else in the article. I really think this is an effective feature, as it really offers insight into what has been said within the article, as well as adding colour to an otherwise fairly plain page.

A smaller image is used on the page as well, usually of 1/3 of the model, and is placed somewhere in the middle of the text, or towards the bottom of the page near a larger image, to offer some other news or another quote. I will try and include an advertisement over the smaller image that will be placed on my double page spread, to use this same idea, as i feel it is an effective feature, as the advertisement will be focused on something related to the model, whose image it will be placed over slightly.

These two examples of text on the double page spread show that there is usually a fair amount of text, but not so much that the reader may not bother reading the article because it is too heavy with text. Both of these images are examples of interviews, and the typical layout of these seems to be fairly small columns, with highlighted writing for the interviewer, and  usually black writing for the person who is the focus of the article. As i like this idea myself, i will try to use it on my own double page spread, but maybe have the interviewers name as well as my artists name highlighted in two different colours to show who is who clearly.

After looking at all of the main features that have been used on all of these magazines, i will try to use many, if not all of them on my very own double page spread, as i feel that many of them are very effective, and will make my own more appealing to my target audience.



Music magazine: Contents page research.

I will look at the features, advertisements, layout, fonts, colours and images used on Sugar's contents pages, to establish how my own music magazine contents page should look.

Each issue of the magazine has a section on the contents page, where the editor talks about what the new issue holds, and other news related to it. It's short and to the point, offering the reader a quick overview, and allowing the reader to become more involved with the magazine by knowing what the process was like. There is a small image placed next to the text of those that have written the text, usually the editor. There is also a small advertisement on the left version, which is something that i would like to incorporate into my own contents page, as i would prefer that to an image of a person. I will also write a small amount of text on what the reader can expect within my music magazine.

The title Contents is usually at least partly hidden by the image, and so it is put in a big font, with alternating colours on a plain or black background, so it sticks out. The month that the issue is for, is placed above the title, in small text to ensure attention isn't taken away from the model and the text. This is also something that i would like to incorporate into my own contents page, as i think that it is quite effective, but the readers attention remains focused on the main articles of the magazine.

The main image itself is usually 3/4 of the models body, so about down to their waist. The clothing is quite plain, so again the attention is focused on the models face, rather than her accessories. Their poses are often creating angles, and their faces are mostly visible, with the picture being well lit. The expressions on their faces are usually quite plain, usually just a small smile, as their image and personality would be essentially focused on when their main article appeared further on in the magazine.

The title is put on a slant with a paler version of the background colour placed behind it to make it stand out. The subheading below it follows a similar theme, but in a smaller font, and darker colours. Overall, the titles are kept to a much smaller size compared to the Contents title, as the main title has already been used in a large font on the front cover. The page number of the main article is placed in a big font, and a pale colour over the model, which is effective as it makes it clear where exactly in the magazine the main article is.

Underneath the Contents title, and next to the main image there is a small amount of text, giving the page numbers and titles of various articles within the magazine. The titles of the articles are put in bold, next to a coloured page number, with text in a small font underneath, giving a brief summary of that article. This is also another idea that i would like to include on my own contents page, as i think it fills empty space, as well as providing the reader with some important page numbers of popular articles.

At the bottom of the page, there are more page numbers of other articles that the reader may want to look at, as well as advertising other things within the magazine. A few images of others mentioned within the magazine are placed down here too, with the page numbers placed over the image in a bigger font than those page numbers around them. The colours throughout the page follow the same theme, and so on this issue, the colours used the most were black, white, and different shades of pink, which is something that i would like to add to my own contents page.

After evaluating Sugar's contents page, i will try to combine their ideas with a few of my own to create an effective contents page that would appeal to my target market.